'Passive house' developer puts Central District apartment project on the market

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Seattle builder Sloan Ritchie is on a mission to build as many ultra-efficient "passive houses" as he can, but he can't get to them all because, he said, his ambitions are larger than his balance sheet.

"If I had really deep pockets I would go develop all these projects, but I'm just a guy who's trying to bootstrap stuff," said Ritchie, president of Cascade Built, a national leader in construction of passive houses, which consume up to 90% less heating and cooling energy than standard buildings.

It's why he is willing to sell what would be his largest development to date: a fully permitted, 107-unit apartment project in the Central District. Kidder Mathews has the listing for the property at 1419 24th Ave., in an area that has seen significant gentrification.

Passive houses are common in parts of Europe but not in the United States. They have high-performance windows, extra-thick walls and energy recovery ventilation, which exchanges air inside a building and uses it to precondition incoming outdoor ventilation air, cooling it in warmer seasons and warming it when it's colder.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/04/13/passive-house-developer-sells-project.html

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. That's cool

I once stayed in a stone house in Kansas that was built in 1884. It had walls that were 18 inches thick, according to the owner, whose grandfather had built it. She said it stayed cool in the summer, although I don't know about "air exchange", and it was sure darn warm and not drafty in March!